Former Pakistani Cricket Team captain Shoaib Malik recently voiced hisconcerns regarding the strategic aspects of Babar Azam’s captaincy. Thiscomes in the wake of the national team’s consecutive losses in the warm-upmatches leading up to the ICC World Cup 2023, which has raised questionsabout the team’s overall performance and leadership.
The Pakistani cricket team is poised to commence their World Cup campaignshortly, with their first match against the Netherlands scheduled to takeplace in Hyderabad, Deccan.
In an interview on a private TV show, Shoaib Malik delved into theweaknesses he perceives in Babar Azam’s captaincy strategy. Whileacknowledging that Babar Azam has shown improvement in his role as captain,Malik expressed his view that as a leader, Azam has fallen short in makingunconventional decisions.
Malik highlighted the issue of Pakistan’s top fast bowlers, includingNaseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Haris Rauf, consistently facingweaker opponents, which, in his opinion, has led to injuries among thebowlers. He emphasized the necessity of nurturing a second line of fastbowlers for international cricket by providing them opportunities to playagainst less formidable opponents.
Read Top Stories
Shoaib Malik stressed that Babar Azam should have considered introducingnon-regular bowlers when the established bowlers were not performing well.This, he argued, would have put pressure on the batsmen and increased theteam’s chances of taking crucial wickets.